Open-source intelligence (OSINT) enables law enforcement to collect information from a wide range of sources, building a detailed picture of criminals and improving the response to security threats. It can have particular importance during warfare, as it can contribute to war crime investigations, tackling collaborationism and identifying illegally obtained assets.

• To this end, the Council of Europe and CEPOL jointly organised a 5-days training course for investigators and operatives from the State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine (SBI). Our partners displayed their commitment by attending the onsite course in Warsaw, despite the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The activity was tailored to the Ukrainian colleagues’ needs and successfully enhanced their knowledge on online investigations by improving the collection, evaluation, and distribution of information. Apart from OSINT fundamentals, participants learnt about Dark Web investigations, social media and link analysis tools, and later on they could put their skills to test during an interactive capture the flag game, simulating a real-life investigation.

Lesya Ilnytska, an investigator at SBI summed up her experience as a participant:

“I would like to express my gratitude to the organisers and the trainers, as it is very important for us to gain new knowledge to protect the safety of citizens and the legal democratic state as a whole. We learned about applications that we had not used before in our activities, so they were a revelation for me. I can't wait to go back to Ukraine and share my experience with fellow investigators.

In addition to the fact that we gained practical skills, we also had a rest, saw a very beautiful Warsaw in the evening, and learned a little about its history. After all, Warsaw also experienced at certain times what we are currently experiencing in Ukraine. Therefore, it is very nice to see it beautifully rebuilt, where only the old ruined buildings remind of the war. And I hope that very soon it will be the same for us. And in this, too, the knowledge we have gained at this course will play a certain role.”

According to Istvan Heredi, a CEPOL expert, “OSINT is of particular value to investigators who cannot physically access crime scenes in a timely manner to collect information and evidence, which is often the case in Ukraine today. The key takeaway of this course is the ability to conduct investigations in the ever-changing online environment, and bring the criminals to justice, with respect to the fundamental rights”.

The activity took place in the framework of the Council of Europe’s Supporting Institutions to Combat Ill-Treatment in Ukraine project and the CEPOL-led TOPCOP project. Next year, the organisers aim to provide further capacity-building support to Ukrainian law enforcement.